Restored Grossmann Villa in Ostrava wins heritage restoration award

The restored villa of Ostrava builder František Grossmann has won the Director General’s Prize of the National Heritage Institute (NPÚ). The Patrimonium pro futuro 2026 awards ceremony took place on Tuesday, 20 October, at the Hybernia Theatre in Prague and was broadcast live by Czech Television’s ČT art channel.

In the 13th year of the awards, 36 projects were nominated, and an expert jury selected 22 finalists in five main categories: “Monument Renewal”, “Restoration”, “Discovery or Find of the Year”, “Presentation and Promotion” and “Monument Rescue”. Outside these categories, the NPÚ Director General’s Prize, “Exemplary Monument Management” and “Heritage Protection Personality” were also awarded.

“This year’s laureates prove that caring for cultural heritage is not the job of a single institution or a single profession. Behind it stand specialists, owners, communities, associations, restorers, archaeologists and people willing to spend their time, energy and often considerable money on saving monuments,” said NPÚ Director General Naďa Goryczková.

Built in 1923–1924, builder František Grossmann’s house combines luxurious living quarters with the office of his construction firm and is a fine example of Art Deco. The building was in very poor condition even before the renovation: in the 1940s the interior was converted into apartments, it later housed a kindergarten, and the house gradually fell into disrepair. The complex, long-prepared reconstruction restored the villa’s original layout, valuable details and colour scheme inside and out, and the garden was recreated from historical photographs.

The award went to the city of Ostrava and the company Černá louka. Černá louka head Jiří Šimon said the recognition “belongs to everyone who initiated the villa’s renewal and took part in it”, and that it motivates them to keep uncovering Ostrava’s cultural heritage. The villa’s curator Tomáš Rusek added that visitors can learn about its hundred-year history and recent reconstruction from the new publication “Vila Grossmann”, prepared by an interdisciplinary team of specialists.

The project’s architect was David Vaněk, the restorer was Markéta Müllerová and her team, and the building contractor was MORYS. The artistic and craft elements were made by Archatt, and the planting was handled by Vykrut. NPÚ supervision was carried out by heritage conservation specialist Vitold Sikora.

Around Prague, based on reporting by ostravan.cz